2 62 
THE I LLUST RATED BOCK OF POULTRY. 
and broadly striped down each feather, the black stripe ending clear and sharp at the base, so as to 
form a kind of dark necklace. All the body-colour should be a clear white surface, with an under 
ground-colour of grey, the primary quills being black. The tail is also black, except the two top 
feathers, which ought, if possible, to be edged with white on the top edges ; but this is not to be 
too rigidly insisted on. The shanks, like the cock’s, should be a bright yellow colour ; and the 
feathers white, very slightly mixed with grey or black. Except the neck, tail, and the little black 
or grey on the leg, the general appearance of both sexes should be a clear white all over, any 
tendency to yellow being a great defect. The latter colour exists naturally in some strains, and is 
distinct from the sun-burn which hot weather will produce even in good white birds. 
The Light Brahma is so extensively bred in the United States — more generally, perhaps, than 
any other breed — that a few remarks on the American and English types as compared become 
almost necessary. The American birds are, as a rule, much longer in the leg and back, and 
therefore less compact in shape, than the English ; but (no doubt as a direct consequence of this) 
are bred to a far larger size. An imported cock was shown in 1872 which exceeded eighteen 
pounds’ weight, and twelve and thirteen pounds are not at all unusual weights for hens. Hence 
American birds make valuable crosses to gain size ; but we must confess our own predilection for 
the square and compact English form, when bred to a satisfactory size, which there is no real 
difficulty in doing. The American birds also differ somewhat in colour, being described by United 
States’ fanciers themselves as almost exactly the colour of new milk when drawn from the cow, not 
the bluish colour of milk when skimmed of the cream. In England, on the contrary, this very 
pearly or bluish-white colour is most preferred, as it is also by some American fanciers, being much 
less apt to run into deep straw-colour in the cocks. American birds are also very often too long 
in the head, which greatly detracts from their beauty of expression. Probably the most perfect 
standard of perfection would lie between the two extremes as regards shape ; and there is little 
doubt that overmuch seeking for short-legged cocks has seriously diminished in size several good 
English strains : but neither, on the other hand, can we admire the long, rangy, raw-boned look of 
some American importations we have seen. We should rather advise the mating of fine long-bodied 
American hens of ten or twelve pounds’ weight, with a broad-backed, short-bodied, and very short- 
legged English cockerel of a good pearly colour, taking especial care the male bird had a broad 
and rising saddle. From such a cross, if rightly chosen for breeding colour, valuable results may 
be secured. A long, rangy American cock may also be put with compactly-built hens for the 
same purpose ; but we would prefer the cross first mentioned. 
The chief difficulty in breeding Light Brahmas is to obtain a sufficient amount of black 
marking in the hackle, without producing colour where not wanted. The natural tendency of 
most poultry is to breed lighter and lighter ; but if, to counteract this, cocks be chosen with 
densely-striped hackles, and saddles also striped, and mated with dark-necked hens, the almost 
inevitable result will be pullets with backs and other parts spotted or splashed, and cockerels with 
black spots on the fluff, in the wing, and other undesirable places. The best plan, at all events at 
commencement, will be as follows : — To breed pullets, put a cock with narrow but tolerably 
distinct stripes in his hackle, saddle quite clear, and leg-feathering nearly white, with hens so 
darkly striped in the neck as to be unfit for exhibition, or if they can be got so dark, entirely 
black, even in the very fringe, as in one of the feathers shown in Fig. 64, which was plucked from 
a fine American hen. From such a cross, hackles resembling the other feather in Fig. 64 will 
be produced, and so far as regards colour nearly every pullet will be fit to show ; while a fair 
number of good cockerels may also be expected, but not marked enough to be considered really 
perfect birds. To breed cockerels for showing, on the contrary, a cock should be selected with 
